That's the charge of municipal Housing Coordinator Bruce Morgan, who also serves as Montclair's affirmative action officer. Morgan met with the Township Council this past Tuesday to update Montclair's Affirmative Action Plan, which has not been revamped since 2005.

The two primary focuses of the updated plan, according to Township Manager Marc Dashield, are to implement a fair and equitable hiring and promotion process in the Police and Fire departments, and to encourage minority-owned vendors to do business with the township.

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Renée Baskerville highlighted the plan's compilation of a minority vendor list. Dashield said that the listed vendors and others will be invited to an upcoming seminar on how to do business with the township, presented by municipal Purchasing Agent Edward Cho.

In terms of promotions, Mayor Robert Jackson said that it's all a matter of how one weighs different professional attributes. In the private sector, promotions are generally earned through good job performance, Jackson said, not through the testing that the township requires from its employees.

"We need to make job performance more relevant," Jackson said.

Morgan told council members that he had been in contact with department heads and that testing had been a concern raised by them.

An updated hiring and promotion process has been identified, according to Dashield, who said it will require collaboration with union officials.

Correcting prior Mistakes

Montclair Chief Financial Officer Frank Mason presented the council will a corrective action plan to address notes in its 2013 audit.

The number of notes in Montclair's audit has decreased in recent years, from 24 in 2011 and 13 in 2012 to eight this past year, Mason said.

Notes from this year's audit include making sure that purchase orders are made prior to the orders themselves, having cash reconciliations in payroll done monthly, confirming that 1099 tax forms are issued for all regular vendors, and creating an ordinance to support the township's practice of providing free single-day parking permits for residents who are having work done on their home.

Another note stipulated that collections at parking meters need to be alternated between two employees. While Montclair has a fulltime employee doing this work, the township will need to hire a part-time employee to be compliant with the note, Dashield said.

Jackson noted that a few of the notes were attributed to transitions within departments and asked Mason how the township was working on making sure that practices do not fall by the wayside when staffers depart.

Mason said that, particularly in the Payroll and Planning departments, there has been overlapping in training processes.

Abandoned Vehicles

Montclair Code Enforcement has been receiving an increasing number of abandoned-vehicle complaints, according to Acting Fire Chief Tom Diveny, who also heads Montclair's Code Enforcement Department. To date, no ordinance in Montclair specifically addresses the issue, Diveny noted.

During Tuesday's meeting, Diveny and the council discussed creating an abandoned-vehicle ordinance. Dashield said that the ordinance would describe abandoned vehicles as those parked on private property without permission for more than 48 hours, without a license plate or registration, inoperable or missing one or more tires.

Dashield said that the ordinance would not impact vehicles concealed behind a garage or enclosure. Diveny added that there would be leeway for vehicles being repaired, provided they are registered.

A draft of the ordinance will be presented during the council's meeting next Tuesday, Aug. 12.